The invention described herein relates to a transmitting adaptive array system which provides automatic adjustment of the amplitude and phase of individual elements of a transmitting antenna array in order to optimize the array antenna pattern with respect to some parameter. One application of this system is adjustment of broadcast array antennas, another application is to portable transmitting systems for frequencies from ULF to HF for providing emergency communications for military applications.
More than twenty-five percent of the AM broadcast antenna systems in the USA are directional arrays. The primary purpose of a directional array is to steer nulls in the direction of other transmitters sharing the same frequency in order to minimize interference between the two transmitters. In some cases, the array may also be used to provide signal enhancement in one or more directions.
Further background information is provided hereinbelow when FIGS. 1-3 are discussed.